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Re: [ALUG] S.T. -- Doors
by David Noble 10 Sep '06

10 Sep '06

Hi Ted Tried both links with Opera on Debian Sid; empty page. Tried with MSIE on win virtual machine; empty page (http://mrdaven.mine.nu/timesonline.png) dave.

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S.T. -- Doors
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 10 Sep '06

10 Sep '06

Hi Folks, Would anyone oblige by running a crosscheck for me? I wanted to look at the SUnday Times "Doors" section on-line this morning. Not for the first time, although the page which comes up is headed "The Sunday Times - Doors", is has no content. I was using Firefox. I then tried on a different machine with Mozilla and Netscape, with similar results. It may be that the page really has no content this morning, or it may be that it's a "browser compatibility" problem. I'm not in a position to try using I.E., so can't check whether it's a case of the Sunday Times making unwarranted assumptions. The direct URL to "Doors" is, apparently, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,2776,00.html and the indirect route from the top level is 1: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ 2: Scroll down until you find "Newspaper Edition" under "Services"; click on this 3: Pick "The Sunday Times" from the days 4: Click on "Sunday - Doors" As I say, I've experienced this before, though not often. I'd just like to settle whether it's my browser[s], or the fact that I'm not using Internet Explorer [when of course all right-headed people should], or the Sunday Times has not put any content onto the page this weekend. With thanks, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 10-Sep-06 Time: 09:17:43 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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Anyone using Vmware?
by cl＠isbd.net 08 Sep '06

08 Sep '06

Is anyone here using Vmware? My Win2k machine is getting a bit flaky so I'm looking at buying some new hardware (system unit only probably) and setting it up as a Linux box with Win2k running in Vmware. This would replace my existing two machines running Slackware Linux and Win2k. I know there are some issues with running Vmware on a Slackware Linux box but these seem fairly easy to overcome, they are basically only to do with the startup scrips (BSD versus SysV). Does anyone here have any experience of doing this? In particular how good is the hardware support for Win2k in VMware, I want to be able to use a scanner from Win2k in particular. I suppose I ought to ask about good hardware too but I'll make that another thread. -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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qemu - a love/hate relationship
by Barry Samuels 08 Sep '06

08 Sep '06

I had not heard of qemu until someone recently mentioned it and as I have one item of Windows software for which there is no Linux equivalent I thought I'd give it a try. I downloaded the Debian package which gave me an installed version of qemu (v0.8.1-1). I installed Windows98 using this and have a working version of Windows98 running on my Debian box - whoopee! I have installed the Windows package I want to use and it appears to work very well but the data I want to use is on the host machine. I would like to access this using networking and that is where I have come severely unstuck. Whatever I do I cannot get the virtual Windows98 machine to connect to my local network. I've searched and read Howtos with no luck. When I start Windows a network interface, tap0, is created on my Debian box with an IP address in the same sub-net as the real eth0 interface but what do I do then? Giving Windows an IP address in the same sub-net doesn't work. If I run Network Neighbourhood (I can't bring myself to spell it incorrectly) and double click on 'Entire network' I get a message: 'The network is not accessible' and that is as far as I've managed to get. So near and yet so far. I've been trying this all day without any success. Is there anyone who has done this before able to offer some tips? Please! -- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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Social aspects of computer misuse - lecture
by sfr 08 Sep '06

08 Sep '06

The BA Joseph Lister Award Lecture - "Computer says no": the social aspects of computer misuse. Today (Friday) 13:00 Webcast on http://www.sciencelive.org/content/view/95/50/ "Zombies, botnets, Trojans, worms, viruses, phishing, spam and just plain hacking. Alongside the benefits to society, the growth in computing power and availability has brought a new and expanding world of computer misuse which is often (wrongly) thought of as computer crime. Why do individuals commit computer misuse? How do they see the virtual world? This lecture will provide an insight into the motivations that underlie computer misuse and explain the difficulties the law faces. Stefan will consider alternative complementary means of cyber-regulation before discussing the ways in which individuals and organisations could become more resilient to cyber-attack." Should be on archive later. -- eli

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New system (hardware) advice wanted
by cl＠isbd.net 08 Sep '06

08 Sep '06

As I've said elsewhere I'm thinking of buying a new system unit to run Linux (probably Slackware) and Win2k as a virtual machine. I think I'll probably go for a dual-core processor as they seem to have reduced to sensible prices now. What's the current thinking as to which is best value for money between the AMD Dual core processors and the Intel Core 2 Duo ones? Is there anything else fundamental that will affect the performance (well obviously there is!) that I may miss? I don't need anything super whizzy in the graphics department as I don't play any games, good 'business' graphics is all I need. So a big fast disk drive and lots of memory seem to be the other obvious requirements. Any/all suggestions welcome. -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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That KVM issue
by Jenny Hopkins 07 Sep '06

07 Sep '06

And whilst I'm on the subject of posting solved problems: I posted a while ago about a mouse problem with a set of eight debian boxes running from a Belkin KVM, and Wayne pointed me in the direction of the firmware of those particular KVM models. I set our hardwarey bloke on to the task and he was sent a few different firmware changes to make. He did this and reported the changes, none of which solved the problem, and finally Belkin requested we send the switch back to them for tests. They promised to send a reply-addressed box for this. Two weeks later, still no box, and since several weeks had gone by before that with these eight production-essential machines out of action, we had to shrug and order a known-to-work DLink KVM. This was a great shame, as the Belkin was an easier to use design in that you could select the channel required at the press of a button, whereas the DLink you have to tab round. Also because i was pretty pleased that Belkin were being so supportive and helpful and then disappointed they couldn't even post a box. So the solution was that we didn't solve it but bypassed the problem. Jenny

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Tesco Internet Phone?
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 07 Sep '06

07 Sep '06

Hi Folks, Anyone been using a Tesco Internet Phone with Linux? Any comments? Thanks, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 07-Sep-06 Time: 12:53:46 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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rsync problem
by Jenny Hopkins 07 Sep '06

07 Sep '06

Hullo there, A colleague of mine is having problems using rsync to the server I run that he accesses over an openvpn connection, since he made some changes at his end. I've asked him to type out the problem so I can ask on this list. He says: <startnick> While trying to rsync using openvpn and the Vonage supplied Linksys RT31P2 router, the file transfer stalls. This is true whether rsyncing via ssh, rsync server or nfs mounted volume. Using rsync without openvpn or without that router and all is well. No other app seems to have the same problem though I haven't tried many but ssh seems fine for example. Openvpn (v 1.6 I think) only uses udp packets AFAIK so shouldn't need GRE or any other sneaky protocol passthrough. The rsync stall seems to happen after the initial preamble of authorisation and making file lists. Some directories are created but no files are sent. Any clues most welcome. My problem is that I want the Vonage router to be close to the main feed so that its QoS can optimise its VoIP channel. Nick <endnick> Thanks, Jenny

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MS SBS 2003 replacement
by Wayne Stallwood 06 Sep '06

06 Sep '06

Has anyone looked at either of the following http://www.scalix.com/ http://www.open-xchange.com/ I am looking for an alternative to SBS to offer small businesses. The key points are point and click manageability for everyday tasks such as adding users, mail account administration etc, Simple deployment, and inter-operation with Outlook (preferably with most if not all features supported (public folders, calendar sharing etc etc.) As to the other SBS features, VPN's, File and Print sharing and some thing to replace sharepoint I already know how to do quite well in linux so the only missing link is a point and clicky administration interface (some of which is filled by webmin) but these are secondary requirements to the Exchange like functionality. Open-Xchange looks to be pretty suitable, however the GPL version is a complete pig to install unless you are running SuSE or Redhat enterprise products. Also it is pretty dependant on the paid version (with closed source additions) to get the desired functionality (too much dependence on closed source additions puts me in the same boat as SBS and if I include Redhat or SuSE server products, puts me in at the same or higher price point) However I would be interested to hear of any experience with these (or any other similar) products.

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DGS
by Bob Dove 04 Sep '06

04 Sep '06

Hi folks, I suppose you've all picked yourselves up of the floor after hearing the news that DGS (Dixons/Currys/PC World) are creating two thousand jobs in a new advisory service aimed at users of 'technology.' It doesn't matter where you bought your technology - you'll get straight talking expert advice DGS expect to earn billions from this venture - they haven't told us how but one has to presume a very expensive call centre. A story needed to bring mirth to a Monday morning! Ho Ho Ho! Perhaps some of the 2K new experts will advise them on how to explain a dual core processor! Cheers, Bob Dove.

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Weekly IRC reminder
by Brett Parker 04 Sep '06

04 Sep '06

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. Historically, these used to be the only time a lot of us would be about, now the channel has some usual faces that are there most of the time (except at silly o'clock, when we might be sleeping, or on the second thursday of the month, where we might be drinking in the Reindeer), so don't feel limited to visit during this time, come visit us when ever you feel like it! The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include xchat, irssi and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://www.irssi.org/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://xchat.org/windows/ - the UNIX client has a windows port! http://www.mirc.com/ (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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I'm so glad ... [OT]
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 03 Sep '06

03 Sep '06

Hi Folks, Found on the Sunday Times "Doors"/"Don't Panic" web page this morning: The Sunday Times - Doors The Sunday Times September 03, 2006 Don't panic Nigel Powell answers your technology queries Q: I have an AVI file that I cannot delete. Help! Waleed El Tair, via e-mail A: Try creating a simple text file. Give it the same name as the file you want to delete, and copy it into the same directory. When Windows asks to overwrite, click yes, and delete. Alternatively, change your Windows Explorer view to icons and try again. If this fails, go to Start, Run and type in "cmd". Once the command prompt appears, type regsvr32/ u shmedia.dll, then delete the file. That's pure Kafka! I'm so glad I don't live in that world! Good morning! Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 03-Sep-06 Time: 08:38:33 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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A network conundrum
by Barry Samuels 30 Aug '06

30 Aug '06

Briefly this is the mystery: If I connect my laptop to my home network using an ethernet cable it can 'see' the printer but if I connect the laptop using wireless it cannot find the printer (neither can I ping it). Setup details: Computer A has two ethernet ports. Computer A connects to the router via an ethernet cable (eth0). Computer A also connects to the printer (eth1) - ethernet port and printer are on a subnet. Computer B also connects to the router. At first it could not find the printer until I set up a static route on the router which cured that problem. If the laptop is connected to the router via cable (eth0) it can find the printer but when connected via wireless to my wireless access point (which is connected to the same router) it cannot see the printer unless I add an appropriate line to the routing table on the laptop. Can anyone explain, to satisfy my curiosity, why this should happen? -- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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Seen on Jobserve...
by Keith Watson 30 Aug '06

30 Aug '06

...and might be of interest to list members... http://www.jobserve.com/W619E63A067AC6062.job Regards, Keith ____________ Can there be bliss when all that lives must suffer? Shalt thou be saved and hear the whole world cry? - HP Blavatsky

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Dying DVD Drive?
by Martin Collins 29 Aug '06

29 Aug '06

Hi, can anyone decipher the following kernel messages. These occur when I put a DVD in the drive and it tries to mount and fails. I previously had Suse 10.1 on my HP Pavillion laptop but have recently switched to Ubuntu 6.06. These messages don't occur with pre-recorded media (mag cover discs) and don't occur with writable media burnt in other computers. Media previously burnt under SuSE which read fine under SuSE, now don't read under Ubuntu but media burnt under Ubuntu does read in other computers but not this one. It's quite bizarre - it seems if it was burnt in this laptops burner, however long ago, under whatever Linux version or with whatever media brand, they now don't read but do in other computers? Mmmm, maybe the reading laser on my DVD drive has had it? But how come it can read writable media burnt in other computers? I tried turning off dma with hdparm but no difference: martin@linux-laptop:~$ sudo hdparm /dev/hdc Password: /dev/hdc: IO_support = 1 (32-bit) unmaskirq = 1 (on) using_dma = 0 (off) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead = 256 (on) HDIO_GETGEO failed: Invalid argument Anyone experienced anything like this before, particularly with a dying DVD burner perhaps? Thanks & best regards, Martin Kernel messages follow:- Aug 28 20:21:42 linux-laptop kernel: [4295833.959000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:42 linux-laptop kernel: [4295833.959000] hdc: rw=0, want=68, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.481000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.482000] hdc: rw=0, want=4607396, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.482000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.482000] hdc: rw=0, want=4606372, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.482000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.482000] hdc: rw=0, want=4606148, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.482000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.482000] hdc: rw=0, want=4607388, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.483000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.483000] hdc: rw=0, want=4606364, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.483000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.483000] hdc: rw=0, want=4606140, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.483000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.483000] hdc: rw=0, want=4606796, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.483000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.484000] hdc: rw=0, want=4605772, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.484000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.484000] hdc: rw=0, want=4605548, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.484000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.484000] hdc: rw=0, want=4606788, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.484000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.484000] hdc: rw=0, want=4605764, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.485000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.485000] hdc: rw=0, want=4605540, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.485000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.487000] hdc: rw=0, want=3780444, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.487000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.487000] hdc: rw=0, want=3779420, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.487000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.488000] hdc: rw=0, want=3779196, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.488000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.488000] hdc: rw=0, want=3780436, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.488000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.488000] hdc: rw=0, want=3779412, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.488000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.488000] hdc: rw=0, want=3779188, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.489000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.489000] hdc: rw=0, want=3779844, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.489000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.489000] hdc: rw=0, want=3778820, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.489000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.489000] hdc: rw=0, want=3778596, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.489000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.490000] hdc: rw=0, want=3779836, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.490000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.490000] hdc: rw=0, want=3778812, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.490000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.490000] hdc: rw=0, want=3778588, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.490000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.490000] hdc: rw=0, want=1252, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.491000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.491000] hdc: rw=0, want=1028, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:43 linux-laptop kernel: [4295835.491000] UDF-fs: No partition found (1) Aug 28 20:21:45 linux-laptop kernel: [4295837.445000] attempt to access beyond end of device Aug 28 20:21:45 linux-laptop kernel: [4295837.445000] hdc: rw=0, want=68, limit=4 Aug 28 20:21:45 linux-laptop kernel: [4295837.445000] isofs_fill_super: bread failed, dev=hdc, iso_blknum=16, block=16

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Weekly IRC reminder
by Brett Parker 28 Aug '06

28 Aug '06

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. Historically, these used to be the only time a lot of us would be about, now the channel has some usual faces that are there most of the time (except at silly o'clock, when we might be sleeping, or on the second thursday of the month, where we might be drinking in the Reindeer), so don't feel limited to visit during this time, come visit us when ever you feel like it! The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include xchat, irssi and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://www.irssi.org/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://xchat.org/windows/ - the UNIX client has a windows port! http://www.mirc.com/ (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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"Firewall" directory perms possible?
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 26 Aug '06

26 Aug '06

Hi Folks, I've been toying with the following kind of question. Is it possible to setup a directory (say ./invis) such that it is impossible for anyone (even the owner) to do 'ls' on it, or 'cd' to it, thus not being able to find out the names of files and subdirectories under./invis, but such that if you name such a file or subdirectory explicitly than you (as owner) have access to it? I.e. in order to access anything under ./invis you have to know its name. E.g. cat ./invis/myfile cd ./invis/mydir Ordinary "chmod 000 ./invis" will not work, since this prevents all acess of any kind ("permission denied"). But I have a feeling that this sort of thing should be possible somehow (without having any idea of how to do it). Any comments? Thank, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 26-Aug-06 Time: 12:42:46 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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Smartd and Hard Drive errors
by Barry Samuels 25 Aug '06

25 Aug '06

smartd[6119]: Device: /dev/hda, 1 Currently unreadable (pending) sectors smartd[6119]: Device: /dev/hda, 1 Offline uncorrectable sectors Do the above error messages indicate any serious (potential) problems? -- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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FW: [sheflug] Dinnington.net Presentation 5th September 2006
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 25 Aug '06

25 Aug '06

Hi Folks, I'm taking the liberty of forwarding this from the ShefLUG list. As well as the URL for the September 5th event itself at Dinnington, I also looked at the main Dinnington.net website at http://www.dinnington.net/ whi8ch makes very interesting reading! Dinnington is a somewhat out-in-the-sticks-ish place between Worksop and Sheffield. Not unlike a number of our own communities! This is so interesting that I might go up there for it. There are several pertienent fundamental questions that I'd like to know the answers to. For example -- what "pipe" do they tap into, and how? And how can they provide it for free -- where's the money coming from? If anyone else is interested in a possible trip up, maybe we can coordinate? (It's not at all certain I shall really go, but it's quite a possibility). Best wishes to all, Ted. -----FW: <200608251747.56972.richard(a)sheflug.co.uk>----- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 17:47:54 +0100 Sender: sheflug-bounces(a)sheflug.co.uk From: Richard Ibbotson <richard(a)sheflug.co.uk> To: sheflug <sheflug(a)sheflug.co.uk> Subject: [sheflug] Dinnington.net Presentation 5th September 2006 Hi Bob Holland has been circulating some information about an event which takes place on the evening of the 5th of September over in Dinnington. This is of interest to anyone who uses or has some use for Free or Open Source software. To quote Bob's e-mail.... " Starting in September, we are beginning a series of Tuesday evening events in Dinnington to raise awareness of the project. The first of these - on September 5 - is a technical introduction to the system we have put in place in Dinnington. It is aimed primarily at those in our community who have already expressed an interest in supporting and extending the system, but I would like to extend an invitation to those from the wider FLOSS community who may be interested in finding out more about the project and how the FLOSS components are working together. Full details of the event can be found here... " http://www.dinnington.net/click-tuesday/dinnington-net-the-project -- Richard ___________________________________________________________________ Sheffield Linux User's Group - http://www.sheflug.co.uk/mailfaq.html GNU the choice of a complete generation. --------------End of forwarded message------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 25-Aug-06 Time: 18:39:10 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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HDD --> Flash??
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 25 Aug '06

25 Aug '06

Hi Folks, This morning's Guardian "Technology" section has an item about the possible replacement of the classic HDD by flash-memory modules. See: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1856508,00.html While reading the article (mostly about cost comparisons), I was wondering about whether the data stored on a flash module would be as solidly stored as on a HDD. Finally, there was a brief discussion of the issue: "But besides cost, there are other obstacles for Flash memory replacing hard drives. Flash memory is typically guaranteed for around 1m read/write cycles, which sounds a lot, but in the context of the working life of a PC (which is continually writing, erasing or rewriting data) is not. So designers have to use techniques known as wear-levelling to shift data around the Flash memory block to reduce the risk of data error. "We can design around the problem," says Walsh." I was also wondering about how long data would "stay in place" over time anyway. Does the "bit-state" of an element on a flash module tend to "diffuse" away over time? Admittedly I have never experienced data corruption on a flash drive (though the number of read/writes to such that I've made is far from the millions); aqnd I've certainly had problems with hard drives! (But then I do hammer these). Any views? There's also an interesting insight into XP and Vista. Booting XP from a flash would be 25%-50% faster than from a HDD. And, it says, "Vista is about five times bigger than XP, and what comes along with that large size is a speed issue, even with faster CPUs. We've been working with Microsoft on ways to speed up booting and application loading by complementing the hard drive with Flash." Hmmm Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 24-Aug-06 Time: 10:54:16 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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PC World TV Advert
by Ian bell 22 Aug '06

22 Aug '06

PC World's latest TV advert has a saleman extolling the virtues of a dual core Pentium. Dual core? asks the customer. Yes, replies salesman, Let's you do more than one thing at a time. At the very least misleading to the average punter. I have complained to the advertising standards authority. ian

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New Gnome User Needs Help
by Martin Collins 21 Aug '06

21 Aug '06

Hi, after using KDE for many years now, I've defected to Gnome with Ubuntu's Dapper Drake. After using it for a few days I really like it and I'm getting along great. I had tried to use it a few times previous but always gave up and went back to KDE. Everything I use and need is available in Gnome, except one thing. In KDE I always used Konqueror for navigating around my folders and when needing to revert to the command line simply clicked on the Konsole button in Konqueror (which I placed on the toolbar) and a terminal popped open in my current working directory. I can't seem to do this in Gnome/Nautilus. I have to open Gnome Terminal separately and cd into the directory that I want. It's only a minor niggle, but I've just seemed to have fallen into working this way. I do remember, I think it was Mandrake 8.2, that Nautilus did used to have a function like the one described above. Does anyone know if this is possible in the latest Gnome/Nautilus? Thanks all. Martin

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Exim - deny rule ignored
by James Green 21 Aug '06

21 Aug '06

Hi, I'm trying to change the behaviour of exim 4.50 such that as soon as a RCPT TO: foo(a)domain.com is received, it checks if that recipient exists and if not, denies service. deny !verify = recipient Should do it, at the top of the acl_check_rcpt rule. exim -bH shows the rule being loaded, but completely ignored. Indeed testing from my gmail account results in the standard mail rejection notice complete with spam index, instead of an SMTP-level deny. Any clues? Cheers, James

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PC World
by Bob Dove 21 Aug '06

21 Aug '06

Hi folks, PC World - a good place to shop as undoubtedly almost anyone who enters the portals knows more than the staff employed. My most famous encounter was at the specialist desk wherein I enquired after a hard drive caddy or drive case. "Nah, don't make 'em anymore, no call for them." I looked on the shelves and found a Belkin device that looked as if it would do the job (it does - still) and I took it back to the specialist counter and asked the same bloke if I could mount an IDE drive in it. He concurred that what was wrote on the box was correct. I asked that as they didn't do 'em anymore - no call for them - was there a special price? They must be aware of their reputation? I worked for Dixons for ten years. In my time even the junior had a full product knowledge and was actively encouraged to join clubs, go to college or adult learning centres to learn more and more about the subject. It is embarrassing at times to overhear the sales patter! But go into any multi selling almost anything. You'll find Sales Managers, Sales Advisors, Key Account Executives (the person that knows how to write an invoice) Team Leaders but no team or any lowly sales persons. Most of these companies are driven by accountants who have know knowledge of the product. A famous photographic company I was once in frequent contact with had a policy of not employing anyone with photography as a hobby - 'we want them to sell boxes, we don't want them to like the product.' The reps main line was always 'how many outers do you want?' No trying to buy one item to replace the one you sold last week. Many more boxes - don't matter what's in 'em. These people also employ ad agencies at vast sums of money to produce these facile and incorrect ads. The ad agencies are briefed (obviously inadequately) by Sales Directors. Ah Whale! Bob Dove.

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